Political appointee says he was an ‘easy target’ for criticism

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COLLEGE STATION, Texas — A NASA spokesman who resigned from NASA after he was accused of restricting access to a noted climate scientist said Thursday he was targeted because of his political ties.

George C. Deutsch, 24, resigned from the agency's public relations department earlier this week.

"What you do have is hearsay coming from a handful of people who have clear partisan ties and they are really coming after me as a Bush appointee," he told radio station WTAW. "I was an easy target. I was low-hanging fruit."

The New York Times reported Wednesday that Deutsch attempted to limit reporters' access to Jim Hansen, a noted NASA climate scientist, and insisted that a Web designer insert the word "theory" before any mention of the Big Bang.

Deutsch denied the allegations.

"I have never been told to censor science, to squelch anything or to insert religion into any issue, absolutely not," said the former Bush campaign worker.

However, the Times and other news organizations quoted from a memo attributed to Deutsch, in which he purportedly told the Web designer that the agency should not make any statement "about the existence of the universe that discounts intelligent design by a creator." The memo also noted that the Big Bang was "more than a science issue, it is a religious issue."